Bizarre / Cartel / Murder / Pure Gore. Irma Isaisa Jasmine Arroyo, 10, whose body was found maimed and semi incinerated on 28 January in the city of Tecoman. Police had long known John Armas was a major meth trafficker, but he was careful. Mexico's CJNG is currently making a series of territorial incursions around the country to take control of key fuel theft, drug trafficking, and human smuggling regions. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Even if U.S. and Mexican investigators can track El Mencho's location, capturing him won't be easy. They seized more than $1 million in drug moneyhis couriers were hauling to Mexico. To an extent, it worked, illustrating how cartels manipulate on both sides of the border through threats and violence. Moreover, the U.S. lacks the authority to make arrests in foreign countries, said Evans, a senior DEA official. Closethe air vents. Treasury Department officials stood with Sessions and announced more sanctions on businesses linked to CJNG and its affiliate, Los Cuinis. So instead of blaming, we should look for solutions.. The cartel circulates these images of torture and execution on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites to spread fear and intimidation. IRAN SENTENCES 3 MORE MEN TO AMPUTATION FOR 'STEALING,' REVIVING ONCE-RARE ISLAMIC LAW. In a Chicago money-laundering case, a Guadalajara businessman working with CJNG urged an informant to settle his drug debt quickly, describing how cartel members settled another mans debt: "They chopped off his fingers.". He was thought to be one of the leaders of Carteles Unidos. Mexico's cartel crackdown struggling despite victory? Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. She recruited helpers, too, and they frequently made deposits of less than $10,000 amounts small enough to dodge federal reporting requirements at bank branches in Nashville and Memphis, Tennessee,as well asGreensboro and Winston-Salem,North Carolina. A veteran Jalisco police officer, whoasked not to be identified for his safety, said CJNG has officials on its payroll at thelocal, state and federal levels. He handed the bag to Noe Antonio Machado-Medrano, then age 23. The case took place in Marcos Castellanos, Michoacan, where gunmen stormed a funeral service and forced mourners to line up against a wall before opening fire. Unlike most cartels and affiliated crime units that permeate Mexico, the CJNG has long posted its most extreme real-life horror films on display for the world to see across social media beheaded bodies left to hang and rot on bridges in broad daylight and beatings so brutal that the sound of bones cracking can be heard. Los Marros behead man, woman from CJNG cartel, Two men dismembered, ditched on road along with pizzas and cartel narcomantas, CJNG cartel members BBQ dismembered opps in Mexico, Sicarios who brutally stabbed two men to death dismembered in Mexico, Cartel members skin two men alive and wear their faces on their head. In cases in which immigrants resist the cartel's offer, CJNG members often threatened violence to them or their loved ones back in Mexico, according to court cases and law enforcement officials. As Farfan's day of reckoning neared, he and his family pleaded for leniency. Armas, in turn, supplied the former nurse and other dealers who carted the drugs further west into Seaside and other communities in Clatsop. They found drugs and drug couriers, including a former nurse, linked back to Hillsboro in neighboring Washington County. "The violence in Mexico and elsewhere is something that doesn't stop at the border. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. He knew that cartels have connections inside U.S. prisons. CJNG burns rivals face alive as a way of mocking his nickname Ghost Rider. Provided by McCracken County Sheriff's Department. It has drug cells all across the U.S., even in tiny towns. Who was to blame? A larger probe was underway by Washington County Sheriff's WIN Team, the Westside Interagency Narcotics task force that includes agents with the FBI, Hillsboro and Beaverton police and the Oregon National Guard County-Drug investigators. Experts estimate that the CJNG also brings in the millions in a multitude of methods aside from the drug trade including illegal mining, human trafficking, money laundering, and the extortion of farmers and their families for a cut in avocado exports and the forced protection payment or else meet a premature death. Since the arrest and extradition to the U.S. of Sinaloa frontman Joaqun "El Chapo" Guzmn in 2016, analysts say that the CJNG has steadily encroached on new terrain including Tijuana bringing with it a recipe for bloodletting and groups waginga war of dominance. hammering his body with at least three bullets, stolen cars converted into armored vehicles to drones and high-powered machine guns. Known as CJNG, the cartel is a global powerhouse, detected on every continent except Antarctica. Just hours after the crash, the cartel carried out coordinated attacks in 39 cities, blowingup banks, gas stations and setting cars and semis on fire on major highways to slow down police reinforcements. During Eduardo's detention hearing, prosecutors told the judge the Farfan drug ring was supplied by a Mexican cartel. In June, operatives attempted to assassinate Mexico City's police chief, Omar Garcia Harfuch hammering his body with at least three bullets and slaying two of his bodyguards. "If that takes them killing other cartels or killing innocent people, they will do it.". Narcocorrido band Grupo Arriesgado forced out of Tijuana for singing about CJNG. . The CJNG could take on the Sinaloa area, Baja California and the Golden Triangle, which it currently does not have in its control, but it's trying," said Wesley Tabor, a retired assistant special agent in charge of Los Angeles Field Division of the DEA. The CJNG has been fighting the Sinaloa Cartel in Zacatecas with one recent clash in June killing 35 people. "We have a problem of corruption. Critics say the Mexican president, known as AMLO, seems more concerned about using federal troops to keep South Americanimmigrants out of his country than challenging the cartels. Much of the violence is attributed to the battle for territorial surface and thus the control oftheillicit drug flow into the United States. He isn't your typical cartel leader. Eduardo began running errands for his uncle, including delivering a bag to an El Salvador native who flew in from Maryland. The group has also upped the ante for sea and air authority too fighting the likes of Sinaloa and the vestiges of Los Zetas and Los Pelones to take heed over the vital port of Chetumal and the Yucatan Peninsula, according to ananalysisby InSight Crime. In June 2015, the Mexican military arrested El Menchos son and second-in-command, Rubn Oseguera Gonzles. ", "Thats kind of hard to believe, but its true.". or redistributed. For 53-year-old El Mencho, success did not come early. They also contacted more than two dozen accused cartel members or CJNG associates in prison and traveled to Mexico City, Guadalajara and 15 U.S. cities to see firsthand the far-reaching repercussions of El Menchos cartel. Here you'll find all collections you've created before. More unchecked opportunities. CJNGs increased distribution of fentanyl across the country has helped the synthetic opioid unseat heroin as the nations No. Additional Video Update: There is an additional video of a fight against state police that took place in the town of Tizapn El Alto. It could hide 9 kilos of drugs and a pile of cash. But DEA agents across the border are sharing intelligence and working with their Mexican counterparts to devise ways to dismantle CJNG and arrest its leaders. He was not a millionaire," Beaumont said. CJNG, which routinely faces off with its No. "When they shot the helicopter out of the sky is when everyone respected CJNG as a powerhouse cartel and a rival of Sinaloa,"Donahue said. One of them interrogates the semi-nude Mendoza, who admits he sold drugs in Valle de Santiago, where gunmen assaulted a police station on Friday, killing five prisoners and freeing another. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. "They are, however, big on extortion and can turn to violence if victims refuse to cooperate," she asserted. Hollie McKay has a been a Fox News Digital staff reporter since 2007. If you have drugs in your community, and I don't think there is any community that can say they don't have any, it is coming from the drug cartels. In a desperate bid to cling to its remaining territory, the group has joined forces with a former rival: a fast-growing cartel called the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). Victor Alvarez Farfan began sneaking into the U.S. and targeting the Portland area more than two decades ago when he was in his early 20s. Roberto never talked to agents or prosecutors. ", The mother of his two youngest children wrote a letter saying: "He is one of the greatest fathers that there is. More:This small-town Oregon bricklayer had a side hustle: Gun supplier for Mexican drug cartel. The cartel exploits its connections with otherwise hard-working immigrants, said Dan Dodds, who leads DEA operations in Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia. From there, Victor Farfan and his inner circle supplied drug trafficker John Armas in Hillsboro. CJNG torture video - The man was poured alcohol on his head and set on fire The man was poured alcohol on his head and set on fire The gunmen used isopropyl alcohol to set fire to the man's face and mocked his nickname. But they didn't know about dogged sheriff's detective John Walker, who developed informants and bought drugs while undercover. According to the military, the vehicles were used by the CDG (Gulf Cartel) to transport drugs and hitmen. It also operated a tequila label, casinos, two shopping centers, a medical clinic, real estate companies and a Pacific Ocean resort frequented by Americans, according to U.S. Treasury Department records. Next steps crucial, experts say. He also didn't want to be shunned by his close-knit family for betraying his uncle, a senior relative. Pineda Sanchez's attorney, Lawrence Beaumont, disputed his client's involvement. From the shadows, he continues to lead CJNG with ruthless authority. 1 nemesis, the Sinaloa Cartel, dominates the majority supply of everything from methamphetamine and heroin to the devastating synthetic opioid. You can follow him onTwitterand onFacebook. While officials can't say how much of the U.S. drug trade comes from CJNG, they predict the powerful organization is poised to supplant the more well-known and established Sinaloa Cartel as the world's most powerful drug trafficking organization. "As well as those who suffer from a lack of economic opportunity because businesses cannot thrive, and a lack of quality of life because public services, in some ways, do not function well.". Selling drugs in bulk to local traffickers, who then sold to area dealers. Macias' associate, Imanol Pineda Penaloza, headed a cell in Louisville while running his drug business through his used tire shop, Los 3 Hermanos. There, amid the lush pastures and white rail fences, a Mexican immigrant with asinister secret quietly groomed prized thoroughbreds at historic Calumet Farm, according to court records. Then in September 2020, a video believed to have been filmed in the central state of Zacatecas showed CJNG members directly threatening Ismael Zambada Garca, alias "El Mayo," leader of the Sinaloa Cartel. Beginning in 2015, the U.S. Treasury Department designated El Mencho a "kingpin," along with his brother-in-law, Abigail Gonzlez Valencia, leader of the Los Cuinis cartel. This week, murderers from the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) in Ensenada, Baja California, failed to assassinate an operator of the Sinaloa Cartel. UNCENSORED VIDEO BELOW / New horrifying video shows three CJNG cartel members beheading two men from a rival cartel in Mexico. Theyve got their money," Williams said. "But if you have drugs in your community, and I don't think there is any community that can say they don't have any, it is coming from the drug cartels. The government also alleges that Los Cabos targeted law enforcement in Tijuana, killing at least three police officers. He had to pay $50,000. A high-ranking state official in Jaliscosaid Americans are too quick to blame Mexico for the U.S. drug crisis. Paying semitruck drivers to haul hidden caches of drugs into the U.S. and return cash to Mexico. Farfan agreed to forfeit $100,000, and the judge ordered him to remain on supervised release for five years after he serves his time in prison. Farfan's drug ring also sent drugs to Gresham, east of Portland, Hood River, a port on the Columbia River an hour northeast of Portland, and north into Tacoma, Washington. El Mencho eventually joined the Milenio Cartel, gaining a reputation as a cunning sicario, or hitman, and then a boss of hitmen in Guadalajara, Jalisco's capital city. The victims' wrists were tied using ligatures to prevent them all from bleeding to death. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @holliesmckay. Roberto, 22, had a fianc and young daughter in Morelia, a city in Michoacn. "Once the cartel brings a huge load across (the border) and throws it out there for everyone to sell, its out of their hands. "And it is a football (soccer) player of a narco.". As they hovered over a cartel convoy, CJNG members fired Russian-made rocket-propelled grenade launchers, shooting down Morales helicopterinto a cluster of trees. He knew he faced deportation back within reach of the cartels. Smaller towns. Throughout 2019, reporters analyzed thousands of court records of more than 100 criminal drug cases around the country and talked to more than 150 federal drug agents, police officers, defense attorneys and prosecutors. Farfan pleaded guilty in November 2021 to trafficking drugs and illegally reentering the U.S. and was the last of 23 defendants in the case to admit guilt. He initially came to the U.S. to earn money as a mechanic for another relative. Mexican marines almost captured El Mencho in October 2018. Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting. The cartel has its hands in trafficking multiple deadly substances. Reporters Jonathan Bullington, Kala Kachmar, Chris Kenning andKarol Suarez contributed to this story. In Seaside, known for commercial fishing and timber, traffickers easily established a strong customer base. They control witnesses in the U.S. by threatening to kidnap, torture and kill loved ones within their reach in Mexico, hamstringing agents trying to target drug kingpins and their powerful inner circle. ", "He said: 'I'll do the time. Snchez was once a top lieutenant in the CJNG, but split to form his own cartel called La Nueva Plaza in 2017. The . Garbage. CHINESE 'CARTELS' QUIETLY OPERATING IN MEXICO, AIDING US DRUG CRISIS. "He was very minutely involved. "I had a prosecutor who was sympathetic that this guy was just a bond-hit, video-game type of kid," Schindler said. The note was signed with the initials CJNG, or Jalisco Nueva Generacin Cartel, a cartel considered to be Mexico's most-dangerous cartel. He and Helida Montes, his partner for 16 years, settled their two children in Oregon City as Farfan grew his business, roping in two of his nephews. The case took place in Marcos Castellanos, Michoacan, where gunmen stormed a funeral service and forced mourners to line up against a wall before opening fire. CJNG also has enlisted white-collar expertise. %privacy_policy%. It has an army of 5,000 members . Who is El Mencho, the most powerful drug kingpin in the world? While Luis Alderete maintains his innocence,court records show that his brother, Roberto Alderete, identified Luis asa cartel lieutenant. "As well as the violence and corruption that puts at risk the neighbor with which the United States shares an enormous land border, and in which thousands of U.S. companies operate, and U.S. citizens live.". With a $10 million reward on his head, hes on the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administrations Most Wanted list. And, according to reports by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, CJNG and its rival, the infamous Sinaloa Cartel, are the top two suppliers fueling the deadliest drug epidemic in U.S. history. Next steps crucial, experts say, US drug czar wants India to stem flow of chemicals used by Mexican cartels for fentanyl, Ignoring cartel danger, Mexican families scour wilderness for missing loved ones' remains, This small-town Oregon bricklayer had a side hustle: Gun supplier for Mexican drug cartel, Mexico-US investigation links cartel downing of military helicopter to Oregon gun supplier, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. They are surrounded by 13 masked men, apparently Los Zetas hitmen, who point their rifles at them. He agreed to talk to agents only about certain drug crimes, including detailing his actions and his uncle's actions inside the U.S., after a judge released him from jail on bond and after his elder family members gave him their blessing. U.S. officials have . In America,ElMenchoexpectscartel members and associates to avoid violence, hidewealth anddisguise their CJNG affiliations, agents say. During his three months in jail, he got sober. Somewhere deep in Mexico's remote wilderness, the worlds most dangerous and wanted drug lord is hiding. In Illinois,the cartel teamed with Vice Lordsgang members to grow a drug network that stretched from Southern California through the Midwest and into Nashville and Paducah, Kentuckyknown for its riverwalk murals and the National QuiltMuseum. Headless bodies were dumped at the doorstep of a business associated with the Farfan family in their home state of Michoacn. //